A sphere of radius a in free space is nonuniformly charged over its surface such that the charge density is given by ρs(θ) = ρs0 sin 2θ, where ρs0 is a constant and 0≤θ≤∏. Compute the total charge of the sphere.

So I know
ρs = dQ/dS

Integrating the surface charge density function will give me the charge Q. My question is how would you set up this integral?

∫ρs0 sin 2θ dS
integrating 0 to ∏

Or would this involve much more than that such as a triple integral?

Any help getting this set up would be great! Thanks! (Rofl)

Aug 27th 2012, 05:00 PM

Vlasev

Re: nonuniformly charged spherical surface

Since you are integrating over the surface, you should have a double integral. If you use spherical coordinates, one angle goes from 0 to , the other goes from 0 to , all the while the radius is constant.